When the voters entered the polls, Article 1 read: “Do you favor approving the Regional School Unit No. 12 budget for the upcoming school year that was adopted at the latest Regional School Unit budget meeting?”

The 2009-10 budget represents a 2.2 percent increase.

Dolly Burns of Whitefield, who has been active in the PTA for years, voted in favor because “we’ve got to get a budget.” She said its rejection “doesn’t surprise me. I had a feeling it might not pass. Alna, Westport Island and Wiscasset were so against it.”

Burns, who is no fan of school consolidation, attended the mid-September regional meeting in Windsor where a majority of the approximately 100 voters present adopted the budget. The attendance, which was lower than that at the July meeting, showed her “people are sick and tired of the whole thing.”

Heading into the first and second votes in June and July, critics argued that, before the RSU became operative July 1, actual costs last year were lower in the towns than the budgets that were developed and passed.

Leading into September’s vote process, RSU 12 board members attempted to blunt the impact of increases in the eight member towns by applying carryover funds, factoring in Medicaid payments, trimming salaries, hiring new staff at lower pay rates, and taking other measures to trim the local contribution by $346,000.

The total proposed budget dropped from $26,613,500 in July to $26,492,447 in September.

Jerry Nault, chairman of the board’s finance committee, said Wednesday morning, “The board’s recommendations, adopted by the regional meeting, seemed reasonable. Apparently, there will be a need to revisit the budget and consider serious program options. We’ve already recognized the efficiencies allowed through merging eight towns.”

Supt. Greg Potter said he would propose Tues., Nov. 3 as the date for the next validation vote and Sat., Oct. 24 as the district meeting to adopt the next budget. “I feel that a combination of higher local costs, leading to tax increases in most RSU 12 towns, along with general discontent within rural communities (with consolidation) are issues that continue to affect the process. Add to this a cumbersome two-step process with no ability to modify it, the task remains quite daunting.”

The RSU board of directors will hold a discussion Thursday night at its regular meeting in Whitefield, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Finance Committee will meet at 5:30. Potter added, “The cost of conducting the approval process continues to mount.” He said he anticipates the next round will cost $15,000, bringing the cost of all four rounds in the voting process to more than $60,000.

Whitefield’s Dolly Burns commented on the cost of conducting each vote. “We’ve wasted $60,000 that could have been put into all kinds of things for our schools,” she said.